The consequences... on Pecari Commons

Elizabeth

June 23, 2005 8:36 PM

The consequences... by Elizabeth

Elizabeth lay in bed for hours it seemed after initially trying to get to sleep. The words from her Aunt Rose's letter she had gotten earlier in the day had haunted her all through classes and now, they were coming back with a vengance. She suddenly realized was freezing, even though she already was sporting her favorite fleece and pajamas and lying beneath her down comforter. Slipping from underneath it, she soundlessly opened her trunk. Elizabeth removed the crisp piece of parchment and silently made her way down stairs to their common room.

Once at then end of the corridor leading to the central Pecari Commons, she looked around the room, making sure no one else was there. Liz found the room to be compeltely devoid of students, and thus being the desired status, she took a seat on the couch that was positioned facing away from the two boys and girls corridors. She sat, cross-legged on the plush cushions, reading the letter again.

In the long and looping perfect handwriting of her Aunt Rose, there was a letter meaning only one thing to Elizabeth: her aunt was serious about her niece following her rules. The letter began abruptly, but her aunt was never one for beating around the bush when she was displeased with Lizzie.

Dear darling Elizabeth,

I am writing to you to express my severe unhappiness with your conduct thus far at Sonora Academy. I feared when Uncle William and I enrolled you in the school that their less than perfect acceptance would affect your beliefs. Your father and mother just adored that place, though, and they wanted you all to attend. However, I believe that you have been associating with some very undesirable types of people. I would like to remind you that however accepted half-bloods are in our family, others do not look fondly upon such associations.

If these problems, dear Elizabeth, grow, I fear that you will be withdrawn from Sonora and relocated to the Baton Rouge Institute of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where only the most elite students attend. Also, you can expect to never see that dreadful broomstick of yours again if you fail to comply. Your father would have done the same, fair Elizabeth, so complaining about this is not in your favor.

Remember also that you are expected to have in line a promising and accepted suitor for marriage by the closure of your seventh year at whatever school you may be attending. Otherwise, I am sure that one of the many contacts I have lined up for your will do marvelously. You are beautiful Elizabeth, like all the Lavine women have been and will continue to be. Just make sure you play less of that terrible Quidditch and show more of your classy and sophisticated side.

Remember my words Elizabeth,

Aunt Rose Lavine Terpsichore

The cryptic line that really stuck with her was the one she knew was coming: you can expect to never see that dreadful broomstick of yours again if you fail to comply. Liz sighed, folding the letter up and putting it in her fleece pullover front pocket. She knew that her aunt was intent on pulling the reigns in on her ever since she got wind that the Cravens had stayed over at the Lavine Manor in New Orleans over the previous summer.

It had never really mattered to her before, but she knew now that her aunt was really serious about having her be a good representation of their family, and if there was one thing she knew she didnt' want to happen, it was the shredding of her precious new broomstick. The relocation business bothered her too- her aunt would do it to her if she really pushed her buttons, and Lizzie wanted anything but to have to be shoved into a socially and academically strict school like B.R.I.

And as if that wasn't bad enough, there was all the absolute crap about finding a husband to marry before the end of seventh year. She was twelve years old, for merlin's sake, she was just barely starting to have crushes on boys, and Lizzie was in no way ready to start finding "potential husbands"! But that was another thing she figured she could wait out, besides, by the time she was in seventh year, she'd be 18. That was six years from now. Liz could deal with that later.

She let her tired blue eyes close and her head rest on the back of the couch, finally allowing the feeling of intense tiredness that had been following her around all day set in. It was tough, but it wasn't like she had a big choice in the matter- she was how she was, she had the friends she had, and there was no way she was going to go through all that she had with Mia breaking up friendships. There was no way she was going to stop being friends with the Cravens and others that were fine with her family but not with the rest of the pureblood society. She just wasnt' going to do it.
\n\n

0 Elizabeth The consequences... 0 Elizabeth 1 5

Mckenna

July 02, 2005 4:08 AM

Sorry by Mckenna

A loud bang erupted into the common room as the temper mental peccari first year fell to ground.
Mckenna screamed in frustration “ Damn you, stupid shoelaces” Mckenna pulled and tugged the offending laces into her shoe. “And stay there!” the girl shouted in what was probably Supposed to be a be threatening manner. It was a surprise she hadn’t woken up the whole house.
Mckenna glanced around the common room lazily. She saw a girl sitting on one of the plush cushions. Mckenna groaned, the girl probably thought she was a lunatic. In an attempt to fix what was likely a bad first impression, she walked up to the girl and smiled.

“Hi, I’m Mckenna, I’m sorry about that, I have a bad reputation for falling down staircases. I hope I didn’t interrupt anything?” Mckenna glanced at the letter in the girls hand and began to feel uncomfortable, the girl probably wanted to read the letter in peace.\n\n

0 Mckenna Sorry 0 Mckenna 0 5

Elizabeth

July 02, 2005 10:53 AM

It's okay by Elizabeth

(ooc: McKenna, you do know that this takes place in the middle of the night, right? And Liz put the letter away in her fleece jacket before, so you might want to watch the details. It's okay, I do it once and a while, so just watch out next time! :D )

BIC:
Elizabeth's clear blue eyes shot open when a noise quite like someone falling over came from the other side of the commonroom. Not that loud noises coming from her common room was anything out of the ordinary, but it was probably around one in the morning by now, and most Pecaris were in bed sleeping, or at least if they weren't, they were being very quiet about not doing so. A swift hand movement made sure that her letter was safely out of sight before getting up to see if she was alright.

"Woah!" she called out to the girl who was on the floor, "You took quite a fall there. I'm Elizabeth Lavine, a second year here, pleased to meet you. And no, you didn't interrupt anything, I was just sitting up thinking..."

She shifted about the couch a bit, folding her legs up and sitting 'indian style'. Lizzie surveyed the girl standing in front of her. From the looks of it, she was a rebel: red streaks in her hair and everything. If she was a pureblood, which Liz couldn't tell since she'd omitted her last name to the introduction, then she knew someone, somewhere had a fit over that hairstyle. Her aunt and her never had problems like that, since Elizabeth didn't really care what her hair looked like, it was just there; long, black, and dead straight.

"So," she started up conversation out of the awkward moment, "What're you doing up so late? I mean, why are you walking around after curfew. It's not exactly allowed."
\n\n

0 Elizabeth It's okay 0 Elizabeth 0 5

Ash Craven

July 10, 2005 9:38 AM

Gate crashing the slumber party by Ash Craven

Elizabeth wasn't the only one who couldn't sleep because of a letter. The fact that Ash had received a less than pleased missive from home was much more widely known, of course, given the volume at which the Howler had yelled at him and his sister. They'd replied, apologising, but that didn't alleviate a lot of the guilt he was feeling. Hardly anyone, none at school in fact (with the obvious exception of Sorrel), would be able to understand what about the letter had wriggled so firmly under his skin. It was a telling off, shouted hysterically by his mother. Surely he must be used to those by now. They didn't know enough to read between the lines, and see there was more to his mother's panicked words than general angry parent hysteria.

He huffed, and rolled over, furiously jabbing at his pillow, as if its lack of fluffiness was responsible for his insomnia. Muttering a curse word, he irritably kicked his covers off, pacing over to the window. He was just pouring himself a glass of water, when a crash from the Common Room echoed through the quiet.

Grabbing a blanket off his bed, he headed to end of the boys' corridor, peering round to see who was causing that kind of din in the middle of the night.

'... I was just sitting up thinking.'

Ash's brow furrowed in confusion as he recognised Liz's voice, and saw her head poking up over the back of one of the sofas. Only serious things tended to keep a person awake for churning over during the night. Glancing across, he saw who she was talking to. Some firstie girl.

"Yeah," he backed up Liz's words about it not being allowed to sneak around past curfew, as he stepped from the shadows of the corridor into the main part of the Common Room. "Doesn't seem very like a good ickle firstie to break the rules," he said, in a mocking tone, "And, if you're a rebel against the system," he said harshly, "then you seem a bit klutzy to be any good at it." The fact that he was only a year older than her (if that, given that he and his twin had a summer birthday), and had been a cocky little so and so even when he was her age didn't prevent him from thinking she was just some pathetic try hard kid, if she thought she was a trouble maker. The fact she was a girl didn't help either. And the hair... Whereas Elizabeth may have seen it as rebellious, Ash though streaking your hair at age eleven was utterly pretentious, and a sign of cosmetic girly vanity.

"Either way," he said, givin McKenna the evils and settling himself next to Liz on the sofa, "Why don't you scram?"

Ordinarily, unless he was in a particularly bad mood, he wouldn't have been quite so sullen and mean. He probably would have teased her, but he wouldn't have just been outright aggressive - that was more Sorrel's department. However, Liz was his friend, and he was concerned about what could be keeping her awake at night. He couldn't ask in front of the scrap, so he had to try and make her clear off. \n\n

13 Ash Craven Gate crashing the slumber party 50 Ash Craven 0 5

Elizabeth

July 10, 2005 12:29 PM

Wasn't much of a party anyway... by Elizabeth

Liz was still scanning over the first year when she heard Ash's voice come from the boy's corridor behind her. So she wasn't the only person who was kept up at night by something. She thought briefly of what could be bothering the seemingly indestructable and indeterrable Ash Craven. It must have been the howler he and Sorrel had gotten sent. She had heard the letter screaming at them, but in an attempt to not be nosy, she hadn't listened to what it was saying. She watched as Ash settled himself on the couch she was situated, and then as he proceeded to tell her off. He must have either been in a terrible mood, or else he really wanted to know why she was up in the middle of the night.

"Why don't you scram?"

"Yeah," she took the turn to back him up now, "Look, you'd better get back to bed or else we might let something slip that you were out past curfew."

She looked over at Ash with a raised eyebrow, as if asking what he was doing out here so late. Liz would tell him what she was up thinking about, as soon as this little firstie would leave the commonroom, but she wanted answers too. McKenna's clumsiness wouldn't have awoken Ash all by itself, there must have been an alternative motive behind him coming down here in, and being awake in the first place.

\n\n

0 Elizabeth Wasn't much of a party anyway... 0 Elizabeth 0 5

Ash

September 11, 2005 4:48 PM

And it seems to have become even less of one by Ash

OOC - ok, well I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume she's gone... As in from the site, though I'm going to write as if from the Common Room too. I probably would abandon the thread, but it seems important.

IC
Ash rolled his eyes as the first year trundled off to bed, checking over his shoulder that she wasn't hanging around in the corridor. It was hard to see, but once he was satisfied that she was as gone as he could be sure of, he settled down on the sofa next to Liz. He instinctively spread the blanket over her legs as well as his own. He wasn't a naturally altruistic person, but he was a twin. He and Sorrel frequently stayed up together talking, and he was used to wrapping the duvet around her when she climbed in beside him, or having the favour returned if he slipped across to her.

Ash cracked his knuckles, something he only did to irk the squeamish or if he was wound up and glanced over at the corridor again. Sorrel was awake. He was sure of it. He knew her, and he knew that she would be feeling the same as him. She wouldn't be sleeping well.

"How come you're up so late?" he asked Liz, never one to beat about the bush. Being blunt also guaranteed that he could get the question in first, and possibly lead her off on a big enough tangent so as to avoid being asked it in return. \n\n

0 Ash And it seems to have become even less of one 0 Ash 0 5

Elizabeth

September 12, 2005 7:34 PM

I know... it's rather sad, isn't it? by Elizabeth

OOC- yeah, I'd think after a couple months that she's gone... and I agree, I think it's an important thread.

BIC-

Lizzie thought nothing of Ash covering her legs up with the blanket since, being the baby of her family, she always had someone like her brothers there watching out for her and doing small things like that. She also barely even noticed the small little popping noises that signaled Ash cracking his knuckles. To some people it was annoying, a crude sort of habit that her Aunt and everyone like her would look severely down upon. But Liz had resolved to never bother herself over that woman ever again. In reality, the power her Aunt Rose had over her legally was minimal, almost non-existent, so why should she let her aunt bother her anymore?

"How come you're up so late?"

Elizabeth looked up at him, staring down those nearly identical blue eyes. That was Ash for you- blunt as all get out. But she wasn't staring at him out of anger, or anything like that, it was only curiosity that sparked her continued look. As she had discovered at the end of last term, the similarities between Ash's and her own appearance were uncanny. The black hair, which on Lizzie's part was substantially shorter- only reaching right below her shoulder, as well as the clear blue eyes were almost exactly the same on the both of them. It was still odd, after all this time, to see someone that close in age and appearance to Elizabeth. It was sort of like looking in a boy-mirror, or something.

She then realized that her held glance was becoming too long, she looked down at her fleece jacket kangaroo pocket. Reaching back into it, Liz pulled out the letter her Aunt Rose had sent to her. Sighing slightly, she tossed it lightly onto Ash's lap in a signal for him to read it. In case that wasn't enough of a sign, Lizzie drew her legs up and wrapped her arms around them, gesturing in the parchment's direction.

"Go ahead, read it." she said, a pinch of boredom seeping into her speech. She signed deeply, continuing, "I've decided that I don't care what she has to say anymore. I don't care if she threatens to take away my broom or move me to some place in Baton Rouge, I'm my own person. I can be who I want to be. I just can't believe it took me almost twelve years to get that."

Lizzie looked off to the other side of the common room, away from Ash. She hoped that he would read the letter, but understand that she didn't care anymore about blood, and 'who-is-what-percentage-pure'. The letter she had sent back to her aunt earlier in the day proclaimed otherwise, but those were all lies- a facade to occupy her Aunt Rose for a while. She honestly didn't know how her cousins put up with the woman. Maybe that was why the two of them decided to go off to Hecate in Hawaii- thousands of miles away.\n\n

0 Elizabeth I know... it's rather sad, isn't it? 0 Elizabeth 0 5

Ash

September 13, 2005 9:53 AM

That the firstie brat's gone? Yeah, tragic... by Ash

Ash took the letter, unfolding it before Elizabeth even prompted him to do so. He found the overly formal register of the letter slightly confusing, but he got that the thrust of it was that this Aunt of Elizabeth's didn't want her associating with people below her station. People like him. He was glad to hear her dismiss it, especially after what had happened with Princess in the first year. He liked Elizabeth, and didn't want to be chucked on her reject heap just because of who is parents were, or weren't.

He shifted slightly as she stared into the middle distance. Now was probably the part where he told her comforting things and stuff like that. He stretched his feet out, resting them on the coffee table (common behaviour that her aunt would no doubt find appalling) and tried to think what he could say to try and buck up her spirits.

"You say it like twelve years is a long time," he tried, giving her shoulder a quick squeeze (he rarely gave hugs). "A lot of Purebloods go through their whole lives and never realise it's a load of crap. You should be proud of yourself," he said, slightly awkwardly as he strayed from facts into feelings. It didn't help that, besides touchy feely putting him out of depth, Pureblood etiquette wasn't his area of expertise either. "She's probably not the easiest person to stand up to. It'd be easier just to go along with it, but you're not letting her walk all over you." He gave her an awkward smile and a shrug. "Good on you, I say." \n\n

0 Ash That the firstie brat's gone? Yeah, tragic... 0 Ash 0 5

Elizabeth

September 14, 2005 5:34 PM

Yeah, I know, a real Greek tragedy... by Elizabeth

Lizzie turned, looking at Ash and smiling when he put a comforting arm around her shoulders, giving them a small squeeze. She knew from previous experience that Ash Craven was not a guy who was big on emotions and expressing them. That made his comforting even more meaningful to Liz because of the whole situation's rarity. It wasn't everyday that he was acting so... warm. He was usually a playful, energetic, and zany boy who always was up for a good time. This was like seeing him in a completely different light, one that really complimented him.

"It'd be easier just to go along with it, but you're not letting her walk all over you... Good on you, I say." He said, making her smile wider.

"Thanks," she said, grinning, "But enough about what I'm doing out here... That little first year's idioticy couldn't have awoken you on it's own..."

Elizabeth knew that she was venturing into unknown territory, asking a person about what was keeping them up in the middle of the night, but curiosity was getting the best of her. Besides, he knew a lot more about the recent developments involving her family and it's inner trials and tribulations than most of her friends at Sonora, Jen excluded. But she thought it was probably safe to assume that Ash's issue was family or friend related, since to the best of her knowledge, Ash himself was fine. Whatever it was, it had to be serious if he was up, and was too worried to wake Sorrel to talk to her about it. \n\n

0 Elizabeth Yeah, I know, a real Greek tragedy... 0 Elizabeth 0 5

Ash

September 14, 2005 6:26 PM

Not exactly... by Ash

OOC - he didn't put his arm all the way around her, just squeezed the shoulder nearest him. Sorry if that sounds like nitpicking. Also, it may interest you to know (or not) that a Greek tragedy is where a man of power or importance brings about his own downfall. Sorry if the stuff about Liz's parents isn't public knowledge (to other characters) - I figured Ash would know, given he's known her a year and stayed over at her house.

IC
Cracking his knuckles, Ash considered Liz's unspoken question. For all that he wasn't very good at reading between the lines, even he could get that much. She wanted to know why he was up in the middle of the night. He considered this. She had opened up to him, though that didn't mean he had to open up in return. If someone was crying on your shoulder you didn't have to cry on theirs. Though this was sort of different. She had confided in him, and it felt a little like ripping her off to then hold back.

He was capable of opening up, he knew that. Usually it was to Sorrel, so it was kind of weird thinking about talking things over with someone else . Though, given that she was probably lying awake over the same thing, that showed that neither of them knew what to do about it. Even if he had been able to get into the girls' room to get her, perhaps it was better that he didn't. This made him feel guilty for wanting someone over Sorrel. It was different, he decided. It was fair to want to talk to Liz, because it wasn't the same kind of experience as talking to Sorrel. Liz might have a different perspective. She was in a similar situation to Alfie too, though perhaps that meant he shouldn't bring it up, in case she got upset.

He rubbed his hands over his face. This was rapidly becoming confusing, and involving more emotions and problems than he could deal with. He'd just plunge in, like with ripping off a band aid.

"I won't tell yours, if you don't tell mine, right?" he checked. "Were you in the hall this morning? When me and Sorrel got that Howler? Most people probably just thought our mom was being hysterical, but she hardly ever gets worked up over the stuff we do. She only flips out if we really cross the line. She kept saying about how we could have been killed, and she was right. She lost her sister a few years ago, and it really got to her." He had been pulling at a loose thread on his pajama top the whole way through the explanation. As he got to the crux of the problem, which was the real, emotional, hard-to-admit heart of why he couldn't sleep, he broke it off sharply. "Now if she goes- if it all comes flooding back, it'll be our fault." He gave the table a slight kick to try and vent some of the stress and worry he was feeling, and to counteract the vulnerable feeling brought about by sharing the problem. \n\n

0 Ash Not exactly... 0 Ash 0 5

Elizabeth

September 14, 2005 9:44 PM

Well close enough. by Elizabeth

OOC- Sorry about the shoulder thing, I misread. But in any case, I knew that about the Greek tragedies, it's just been while since I last read one... :) Also, concerning Liz's parents, any American wizarding family would have heard about their deaths, since her father was the sitting governor of Louisiana when they occured. And yeah, he would definitely know that sort of thing after staying at her place.

BIC-
Ash started rubbing his face, something she noticed that guys and girls alike tended to do whenever they got frusterated or overwhelmed. After a few moments, Ash began to tell her something that was clearly bothering him greatly.

"Of course," she said, assuring him his secrets were safe with her before he continued.

Elizabeth nodded slowly as he talked, listening to what he had to say... but there was something that she seemed to be missing. The howler, of course, everyone in the Cascade Hall heard that one, but there was a connection between what he said last and their mom getting upset with them. Sure, the Craven twins were notorious trouble-makers, but what could they have done so badly to have upset their mother like that?

Then thoughts of the duststorm that hit Sonora earlier in the term made their way into Lizzie's thoughts. The two of them had gotten stuck out there, or had wandered off or something. Yes, she remembered the story now. Evidently, they had gone off into the gardens, but then had to be brought back into the main manor by Professors Bulla and Kijewski. That was probably what really set their mother off, especially with Sorrel and Ash's aunts death.

"So," she began hesistantly, "You and Sorrel got in big trouble during the storm, I remember that, and that's why your mom got really upset and sent you the howler?"

Lizzie didn't mean to belittle his problem, but she still couldn't see the bigger picture that clearly was there. What was wrong with Mrs. Craven? "Now if she goes- if it all comes flooding back, it'll be our fault", he had said, but what was he about to say? There must have been another part that Liz wasn't understanding. \n\n

0 Elizabeth Well close enough. 0 Elizabeth 0 5